Finally, the time has come to celebrate a victory on New Zealand soil. The roaring tigers overcame the Blackcaps in New Zealand for the first time. They defeated the Kiwis by 8 wickets in front of their home supporters at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Wednesday (November 5). Bangladesh had to wait for 33 matches to win their first match on New Zealand soil in any format. This triumph will surely go down as one of the historic moments in Bangladesh cricket. Let's look at how Bangladesh beat New Zealand in the first Test match.
Match Report: New Zealand-Bangladesh First Test
New Zealand were 147/5 at the end of day 4, barely 17 runs ahead in Bangladesh's first innings. As a result, the Bangladesh campaign was anticipating a win in this encounter. They were required to take all of New Zealand's wickets in the first session on day 5. That is just what the Bangladeshi team executed in the first hour of the session.
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Bangladesh took the remainder of New Zealand's wickets in just 10.3 overs and knocked them out for only 169 runs. With that, New Zealand's lead had extended to only 40 runs, making Bangladesh's target a cakewalk.
Pacer Ebadot Hossain came out with a lot of aggression in the early morning of the day and picked up three more wickets. Ebadot was heavily criticized for his sloppy bowling in the first innings, but he responded with a great bowling effort. The accuracy of Ebadot and the other two pacers, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam was outstanding. Taskin Ahmed took three wickets for 36 runs and Ebadot concluded his spell with 46/6 in 21 overs.
Bangladesh chased down the target in 16.5 overs, losing two openers - Shadman Islam (3) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (17), and claiming a landmark win in Bangladesh cricket history. Two senior members of the team, Mominul Haque (13*) and Mushfiqur Rahim (5*), were at the crease when Bangladesh beat New Zealand.
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Overall, this was a successful encounter for some Bangladeshi players. Opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy, who is already out for the second match, delivered a solid 78-run knock in the first innings. He has a promising career ahead of him. In the first innings, Najmul Hossain (64), Mominul Haque (88), and Liton Das (86) all had chances to score centuries but lost out on a good opportunity. All of the pacers, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, and Shoriful Islam, were superb in both innings. Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz was also effective with the ball. So, the Bangladesh team can take a lot of positives from this match ahead of the second Test in Christchurch.
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Player of the Match
Right-arm medium pacer Ebadot Hossain was named player of the match for his outstanding performance with the ball. He took 7 wickets in the match. However, it was his fiery second-inning bowling performance that gave Bangladesh the win.
Way Forward
The Bangladesh men's cricket team was under enormous pressure following a poor performance in the T20 World Cup, which was followed by a series against Pakistan. So, they really needed this historic Test match victory to revive Bangladesh cricket. Bangladesh were dismantled and clueless in the most recent series, and team morale was down following a string of poor performances. Therefore, this Test match victory will surely strengthen Bangladesh's confidence. The second Test match of the BAN vs NZ series will take place in Christchurch on January 9 (Sunday).